


Some events which unfortunately never happened on Skeleton Island

by green7silver



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Episode 4.10, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, episode 4.09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-13 08:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10510098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green7silver/pseuds/green7silver
Summary: Silver is hurt, Flint is protective and Hands is simply annoyed. Or the fluff we all need, after the last two episodes.





	1. Bridal style

Bridal style

Silver stared down the steep hill despairingly. Since the Walrus burnt, the three of them had wordlessly walked away from the coast. The redcoats were already swarming inland.

He felt like he’d been walking for days on uneven ground. Between his chase after Flint and the fight, he was exhausted. 

But even if he’d been as fresh as the morning, he wasn’t sure whether he’d have been able to manage this hill.  
For a moment, he considered just rolling down. However, he was sore enough already.

Realizing that he wasn´t following them anymore, both Hands and Flint came to a stop. They needed only a second to understand what was his problem and Hands suggested: “Maybe we could find a way around it?”

“That could take hours,” the captain replied. Than, before Silver could work out whether Flint intended to leave him behind – something he wouldn´t entirely blame him for, after the events of the day – Flint placed a hand on Silver’s arm. Carefully, he pulled the crutch from his grasp, steadying him the whole while, and gave it to Hands. “Take that.”

Crutch secured, Flint readjusted his hold. He crouched slightly, and moved an arm under John´s good leg as the other shifted around his back, lifting him from the ground. Murmuring, “Hold onto me,” as he moved.

Silver was rather uncomfortable in Flint´s arms. However, the captain was already walking down the hill, and he clearly had little choice in the matter. 

The close distance and well-known smell were comforting and disturbing at the same time. As thankful as John was not to descend the hill down on his own, he felt rather unsettled. It couldn´t have been more than a few hours since he attacked the older pirate, and something like remorse was stirring in him. 

“Oh, relax,” Flint´s voice was so quiet, that only his former quartermaster could hear it. “I’m not going to drop you, you little shit, not if you don´t try to do anything funny.”

Flint hadn't used the swear word like an endearment in quite a while, and, despite everything, Silver found himself relaxing into Flint’s familiar hold. Leaning his head lightly against Flint´s shoulder.

He was tired, horrified, and at the end of his rope. It was all too tempting to leave the weight of the world to his captain just for a moment. 

***  
Israel Hands followed them with the crutch in his hand and prayed fervently to all gods he knew, that no English spyglass was pointed their way. Prayed that no one would ever see how one of the most feared pirate captain of the West-Indian Islands was carrying the alike feared king of said pirates down a hill like a bride. They would never live it down.


	2. Nausea

Nausea  
“You want me to do what?” Israel Hands looked at Flint a if he asked him to something impossible.

They had settled down on a small clearing in the forest to light a little fire, the redcoats seeming to have given up hunting them for the day.   
“Get some fresh water,” Flint repeated. Then, thrusting a water pouch into Israel’s hands, he continued, “Even you should manage that.” 

Ignoring the angry sputtering behind him, the pirate captain concentrated back on Silver. His friend hadn´t said a single word since they had seen the Walrus burn, which was a telltale sign for the state of mind the normally talkative man was in. Clearly not following Flint´s discussion with Hands he leaned against an old oak, gripping the crutch tight enough his knuckles turned white. The colour of his face was ashen and he hadn´t meet Flint’s eyes once, since the moment on cliffs. 

“Rogers never intended to leave any of us alive,” Silver murmured, finally breaking his silence.

“No.” There was no sense in denying this truth.

*** 

“Then everything is my fault. I lead them into this trap,” Silver felt an acid burning in his stomach, born of guilt and the horror he had witnessed. He stumbled away from the others, deeper into the forest and began throwing up the little he had eaten during the day. 

Leaning forwards with the crutch was not an easy maneuver at his best times and exhausted as he was, he immediately began to fall forward.

But before he could land in his own vomit, two hands caught his shoulders, pulling him back and steadying him. Flint.

“You warned me,” John murmured.

“I didn´t expect the attack so soon either. We all make mistakes,” Flint gathered Silver’s hair and held it away from his face, when he began to heave again.

“Madi,” Silver groaned desperately around convulsions, “they will…”

“They won´t do anything as long as they have neither the cache nor the two of us. There might be still a way for us to save her.”

“Why are you doing this?” John felt a dizzying wave of self disgust. “I tried to kill you, even after you saved my life.”

Flint paused for a moment before answering. Rubbing John’s back comfortingly as he waited. “ You didn´t succeed,” he said gently. “And at the moment, it isn’t important.” When Silver went to speak again, however, Flint shook his head. “Hush now.”

Supporting him until the retching stopped, Flint guided Silver to a place near an old oak, where he could sit down comfortably. Silver felt utterly exhausted by now and shivered so hard that his teeth rattled. 

***

Flint laid his coat around Silver’s shoulders and pulled his quartermaster up into his arms, watching as Silver’s eyes closed. He felt John’s head lean against his shoulder, as he savored Flint´s warmth.

Even so, John trembled against him. Flint shot Hands an impatient look, and other pirate hurried to give him the water. Then, Flint gently passed it to Silver. “Drink this. You’re dehydrated.”

The younger one drank slowly, and some of the shivering eased.

“Try to rest now. There's nothing more we can do today and you’ll need your strength tomorrow.” Flint whispered in his hair and felt him relax, marveling that after all what had happened today, Silver still seemed to feel safe with him.

***

From the other side of the fire, Hands had watched the strange connection between Flint and Silver. Grateful for the first time, that Flint was there. He knew that he had neither the patience nor the empathy to pull the pirate king back from the edge. And while he was watching Flint sooth the younger pirate to sleep, Hands wondered if Billy and he didn´t have had it wrong the whole time.


	3. A proper Goodbye

A proper Goodbye

“Other measures,” Flint eyed the pistol in Silver´s hand suspiciously.

“I don´t intend to shot you,” Silver sounded hurt, “but I won´t hesitate to shoot you in the leg if you fight Gunn and Hands as they bind you.”

“Bind me?” Flint raised his eyebrow. “If you don´t plan to kill me, how do you think you can force me into giving up the war?”

“I will bring you to a work compound for British offenders in Savannah.” Silver´s explanation was so farfetched, that Flint believed for a moment that he was having him on. That he planned to kill him anyway after all. But Silver didn’t look like this were a joke.

“You really believe that a place like this could hold me?” Flint sneered incredulous.

“It´s a place where the rich London families hide their unwanted relatives. Max told me about it,” Silver took a deep breath. “I send a scout there, Tom Morgan, and he found Thomas Hamilton alive.”

“Thomas Hamilton is dead,” Flint was furious that Silver would to use such an obvious lie to get rid of him.

“Says who?”

“Peter Ashe told us …” Flint stopped dead – Peter Ashe, the traitor, who had lied to all of them the whole time.

Silver seemed to catch his train of thought and nodded satisfied: “I would place my trust in Tom rather than a man like Peter Ashe.”

Everything began to shift in Flint’s head, nearly tuning out the next words of the younger man. “I should have told you before, but then the Spanish came and everything went out of hand …”

Thomas was alive? Could that really be possible? Flint´s whole world tilted.

Dumbly he noticed that Silver was still talking. “Bringing him here would probably not be the best idea.”

Flint balked about the idea alone to have Thomas here in the middle of the war. He couldn´t even begin to imagine, what could happen to him there. No, Thomas belonged somewhere safe, where nothing could happen to him.

Then he realized, that this was exactly what Silver tried to do with Madi. But not only with Madi, but also with Flint himself. And something else he noticed now when the rage wasn´t clouding his judgment anymore.

John’s stance was tense, his shoulders set tight, there were unshed tears in his eyes. John was hurting. And what he planned to do, keeping Flint and Madi safe against their will, would probably come with a high price for him.

“I don´t know if Madi ever will forgive me,”here was a hitch in Silver´s voice. “But even if she doesn’t, I know at least that she is safe.”

“That won´t be enough, not in the long run” Flint made a small step closer to him. “Not when you long to hold her and kiss her.”

He couldn´t picture himself going to this working compound without being forced every step, even if Thomas was waiting for him. But he could do something else.

Carefully non-threatening he reached out and laid a hand on Silver’s shoulder. The younger man followed his movement suspiciously, but made no sign to use his weapon.

“Knowing alone, that she is safe, won´t end the longing,” Flint lifted the hand and caressed his face, while Silver watched mesmerized.

“And even if you can get into her good graces again, she won´t be enough for you, as you won´t be enough for her anymore, not after all what happened,” Flint brought his second hand up to tangle it in Silver´s hair. “And when you finally realize that, promise not to ignore it, but to come and find me and Thomas. If he really is alive and still wants me, I can´t promise to stay in this compound, but I won´t come back to Nassau either. Wherever we are, we will be waiting for you.”

Silver shuddered under his touch, open and vulnerable for once. On an impulse Flint bent down and kissed him. When John melted into it, the older pirate let his hands wander over Silver´s body, caressing him, finding all the places, which made him moan into the kiss.

At some point Silver must have dropped the gun, but neither reacted when a shot went off. Silver was too busy to get one final taste of forgiveness and Flint was too occupied to ease some of the pain the younger man was in, trying to instill some comfort for the months to come.

When Israel Hands and Ben Gunn reached the clearing alarmed by the shot, they had to pry the two of them apart.


	4. Protégé

Protégé

_ Some weeks ago _

One evening, in the Maroon camp, Edward Teach had sat down beside Flint and offered him a bottle of wine.

They still didn’t like each other very much, but they got along better than before. Silver and Rackham hadn´t needed to stop them from killing each other at least. 

“So what do you think of it?” Blackbeard asked.

“Of what?”

“Long John Silver,” the older man had replied, looking over to where Silver was talking to Madi. “After what your man Bones did on Nassau, we have no other choice, but ...  Well, he is so damned young.”

“He’s clever,” Flint had answered cautiously. “Resourceful. The men will follow him.”

“As far as I understood Jack, he’s a former thief, who became your quartermaster only a few months ago. He is in no way trained for  _ that _ , let alone what will come.”

“He’s rather quick in picking up new skills. And,” Flint added, “he won´t be alone in this.”

Blackbeard had smiled then, stroking his beard. “Do you know why I left New Providence, all those years ago without at least trying to get rid of Eleanor Guthrie?”

Flint blinked at that sudden change of topic, but shook his head. Of course he remembered the events very well. Eleanor Guthrie had done everything to get rid of Teach. First she had won over Hornigold, then she had seduced Vane.  Everyone in Nassau had been prepared for a fight. A fight that never happened. 

Eleanor had  managed to form a strong alliance, and Blackbeard had not been able to overcome the disadvantage.  Even so, Blackbeard still had had a chance to win, and he was not one to  normally walk away from a fight.

“I have no idea,” Flint had answered.

“Charles. I could not bear the thought that I might have to kill him or at least wound him deeply. He was so damned in love with fucking Eleanor Guthrie. So I rather left Nassau than risking that.”

At the time, Flint shot him a surprised look, not expecting Blackbeard to be such a sentimental fool.

  
But right now, on Skeleton Island, trying to make sure that Silver wasn´t killed in this mad chase for the chest, Flint was certain that Teach was laughing manically at him from beyond the grave.


	5. Different kind of betrayals

Different kind of betrayals

Thomas Hamilton looked at the jagged rocks, impenetrable woods, and felt a general menace, which seemed to hang in the fog. He was quite sure that he didn´t like Skeleton Island, and he liked James becoming Captain Flint even less. But of course they had no other choice.

With all the crazy people around trying to find Flint´s treasure, something like this mess had to happen sooner or later, he supposed.

They hadn’t been disturbed by the gold hunters until now, because  very few people knew where James and Thomas settled down in the first place.

But this special candidate, Allister Moran, had not only found a way to contact them, but also found the perfect bribe. Captain Flint´s vengefulness was legendary, and Moran had done his research.   He found the people Flint hated, brought them together, and now offered them to Flint in exchange for a map.  He had not only found the two persons, who had been responsible for the “end of Captain Flint”, but also a specter from their shared past, who somehow had survived not only James´attack, but also a burning town.

So now, here they were.  Standing on the beach of this godforsaken island, watching a sinister looking man walking towards them. Thomas would have been angry, if he hadn´t been terrified of what could go wrong. There was too much at stake in this moment.

“This is the map?” Moron looked at the paper in James’ hand with obvious greed.

“Yes, it will lead you to the treasure,” James replied, trying not to show his impatience. “Where are they?”

“On the beach.” Moran took the map and he and his men went inland without even a look back.  Considering how tense things were between them all, Thomas wouldn’t be surprised if they all killed each other before they even reached the chest. It would serve them right.

Thomas, James and the few persons, they had brought along, had only had to walk a few steps around some rocks  to reach the three prisoners, bound and lying on the ground. Thomas had known what to expect, but froze when he saw Peter Ashe. James had told him how Peter  died in Charlestown, but there he was,  Unfortunately, still very much alive. He lay there in a rather uncomfortable heap with this hands bound behind his back, looking dirty and untended. The eyes of his former friend grew huge, when he recognized Thomas and James.

“James...Thomas— _ Thomas _ , I´m sorry. I’m so sorry.  I didn´t want to do that.” The begging tone was disgusting.  He wanted to kick the man, strike him until he stopped.

A poorly suppressed curse to his right distracted him.  There was a man there, with short black hair and impressive scars on his face.  Jack Rackham, Thomas assumed.  Max and Miss Bonny hurried toward him, untying him and helping him to his feet. 

James, he knew, didn´t care whether Jack lived or died. Jack would have at least tried to kill Flint on the orders of Madame Guthrie, if Silver hadn´t proposed the alternative.  And while James wasn´t really that angry about it anymore, Thomas doubted James would have gone out of his way for Jack if it wasn’t under  _ these  _ circumstances.

But circumstances being what they were, James had reached out to Max and Miss Bonny, asking them to trail along. 

“Thomas, please forgive me,” Peter continued whining.  Thomas had himself always thought of himself as a merciful person, but even he could never forgive what Peter had put them all through. Miranda´s death alone would have been enough for Thomas to want to kill Peter himself, ripping out his heart and leaving him bleeding.  Thomas knew James felt much the same.

But, James wasn’t looking at Peter.  James  only cared about one person on the beach, the others secondary only.  Thomas watched as James knelt beside the final prisoner.  A one-legged man, who had to be John Silver.  He untied John with heartwarming care. Oblivious to the rest of the world, he gently picked John up.  Carrying him, as he couldn´t walk without his crutch. It was rather lucky that Moran hadn´t known which kind of bargaining chip he really had had in his hands. And that it hadn´t been the thirst for revenge, which had James convinced to draw the map.

With everyone ready to leave, Thomas turned back to Peter, having made his decision. “Miranda probably would have wanted you to die, but then she would not have wanted  _ me _ to soil my hands in doing so.” He took out a knife and put in the sand, a few feet away from his old friend. With a bit of effort Peter would be able to free himself. What happened afterwards wasn´t Thomas’ concern. “I honestly don´t care if you live or die.”

“Wait,” Peter gasped, “you can´t leave me here.”

“Watch us.”

“But you’ll take them with you?” Peter jutted his chin toward Jack Rackham, hobbling into a  longboat with Max and Miss Bonney at his sides, and John Silver, nestled safely in James arms. “ _ They  _ betrayed James as much as I did.”

Thomas saw Silver´s wince out of corner of his eyes and contemplated using the knife after all. Instead he explained: ”Even you should be able see the difference.  You betrayed us for opportunism, he...he betrayed James in hopes of saving his life from a  _ war. _ ”

He turned around and walked to the boats without looking at Peter again. Madi was there, stroking John’s hair as James held him close.  He was pale, but otherwise, seemingly uninjured.  Nothing, at least that  couldn’t be cured by food, rest, and a much needed conversation.  At their side, Max and Miss Bonney were fussing over a huge bump on Rackham’s  forehead. 

Everything had gone a lot better than Thomas  had feared. But he wouldn´t be sorry if he saw neither this island nor any of the people they left there ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, a strange ficlet, but it wouldn´t leave me alone. I also know, that there is no chance, that Peter Ashe survived Charlestown, but we didn´t really see his actual death, so I chose to ignore it.  
> This will be probably the last installment of this collection, but if I have new ideas, I will work on them. I´m open for suggestions too.  
> Thank you for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Now betad thanks to Wind_Ryder.


End file.
